Investing in the future

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Elsewhere in this issue of Universitas, the article “Donors make the difference” announces that College of Arts & Sciences departments awarded approximately $817,000 in student scholarships this year. This is a number that supporters of Arts & Sciences programs can be justly proud of.

Most of that money comes from permanent endowments, usually established in memory of graduates of the various departments, the annual earnings from which support scholarships for current students.

Other scholarship money comes from donations to the annual fundraising campaign conducted by the P. S. U. Foundation.This past year, the Foundation received approximately $281,000 in donations from some 960 alumni, friends, faculty, and other supporters of Arts & Sciences academic programs and activities.

Some of those annual donations were in amounts ranging from several hundred to several thousand dollars, usually to establish new scholarship endowments or to add to those already in existence.The vast majority of annual donations, however, were for amounts of $100 or less, many for as little as $5 or $10.

At this point, it might be helpful to talk for a moment about how much scholarship aid is needed.For the coming academic year, the University has set tuition for in-state undergraduate students at $4,848 for the year, $13,588 for out-of-state students.Assuming that 98% of the approximately 2,500 students majoring in Arts & Sciences departments are in-state students, the cost of their tuition will exceed $12.5 million dollars!As I said above, we can be justly proud of the $817,000 in scholarships we are awarding, but as you can see, that amount is only covering, on the average, less than 6% of students’ tuition costs.

So, any help you can offer will be well-utilized and greatly appreciated.Some of you may be interested in establishing a scholarship endowment.This can be done by a lump sum donation of $10,000 or more, by paying annual installments until the minimum amount required is reached, or by setting up an estate plan.Others will prefer to donate to the annual fund.

Regardless of how you wish to donate or how much, whether it’s $5 or $500, your contribution is immensely important.Every dollar of scholarship aid lightens the financial burden of students and families and helps them prepare for a better life for themselves and their loved ones.